PHF featured in Australian showcase event on participatory arts
Speakers from Paul Hamlyn Foundation contributed to an event on participatory arts projects at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.
Robert Dufton, the Foundation’s director, addressed attendees via video to talk about the Foundation’s support of participatory arts. He spoke of the impact a number of PHF-funded projects and initiatives have had on individuals, artists and communities.
Susanne Burns, project director of ‘ArtWorks: Developing Practicve in Participatory Settings’, contributed to a showcase event on current participatory arts projects. Susanne spoke about the Special Initiative, launched in 2011, which supports the continuing professional development of artists working in participatory settings.
The ’10×10 Showcase’ began a programme of events discussing audience participation in the cultural sector, as part of Deakin University’s Arts Participation Incubator (API). It featured ten speakers with each giving a ten-minute presentation on current projects. Artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company, Wesley Enoch, hosted the event, with speakers from organisations including Arts Centre Melbourne and Contact Youth Arts Queensland.
The event took place as part of Deakin Week at the University, which provides a platform for the debate and discussion of innovative ideas and leading research.
The Deakin University Arts Participation Incubator aims to bring arts participation to the forefront of practice and debate in cultural organisations in Australia. The initiative brings together Deakin University, the arts and cultural sector, audiences, communities, philanthropists and government to address participation as an important issue for the future.
The project also brings together people’s skills and experience from around the world to share effective approaches and ideas, and collaborate on best practice. It has identified the contribution of funding organisations in developing thinking on participatory work in the arts. Alongside PHF, it cites the work of US organisations the James Irvine Foundation, the Wallace Foundation and The Urban Institute.